Category: Health

Placental function linked to brain injuries associated with autism

Tom Patriot

Allopregnanolone (ALLO), a hormone made by the placenta late in pregnancy, is such a potent neurosteroid that disrupting its steady supply to the developing fetus can leave it vulnerable to brain injuries associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to Children’s research presented during the Pediatric Academic Societies 2019 Annual Meeting. In order to more effectively treat vulnerable babies, the Children’s research team first had to tease out what goes wrong in the careful choreography that is pregnancy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in…

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Metformin may help patients maintain weight loss long-term

Tom Patriot

In the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) clinical trial and its long-term follow-up study, among the persons who lost at least 5 percent of their body weight during the first year, long-term maintenance of weight loss was more likely if they had been assigned to treatment with metformin than with placebo or lifestyle intervention. Being older and losing a greater amount of weight in the first year were the most consistent predictors of lasting weight loss. Findings from a cohort study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Weight loss plays…

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How lifestyle affects our genes

Tom Patriot

In the past decade, knowledge of how lifestyle affects our genes, a research field called epigenetics, has grown exponentially. Researchers at Lund University have summarised the state of scientific knowledge within epigenetics linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes in a review article published in the scientific journal Cell Metabolism. Epigenetic mechanisms control the activity of different genes. Disruptions in the epigenetic machinery may lead to diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. This review summarises the role of epigenetic changes in different human tissues of relevance for metabolism, for…

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HOW TO EXFOLIATE YOUR LEGS FOR SMOOTH SKIN THIS SEASON

Tom Patriot

Most of us want soft, smooth legs, especially when spring and summer rolls around and the weather starts to warm up. You can try to meet this goal by waxing or shaving away every last trace of hair and slathering your legs with body moisturizers and oils, but there’s a key step you may be missing: exfoliating. Exfoliating involves removing the topmost layer of dead skin cells, either mechanically (with exfoliating tools or scrubs) or chemically (with an exfoliating acid), and results in skin that looks and feels smoother and softer. Of course, if you’ve…

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MMR vaccine and autism link debunked again: MMR vaccine reduces ASD risk in subgroup of girls

Tom Patriot

A nationwide cohort study of all children born in Denmark to Danish-born mothers between 1999 through 2010 concluded that the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccine does not increase the risk of autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases following vaccination. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. The hypothesized link between measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism continues to cause concern and challenge vaccine uptake. Currently, there is a concerning increase in measles cases in Europe and…

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